New Device From Tunnel Blocks Tracking Of Your Cellphone

Brilliant New Device Lets Protestors Block Surveillance And Stingrays

 

 

 

 

” Reports about agents using a Stingray on protesters to unconstitutionally monitor their phones are circulating widely, and now protesters have a way to fight back.

  Earlier this week an anonymous leaked recording exposed the agents monitoring the protesters’ movements by tracking their phones. A Stingray mimics a cellular tower, letting agents pry into citizens’ cell phones and gather their data/location without a warrant.

  Stingrays were supposed to be used for “terrorists,” but now they’re being used against us locally — which is unconstitutional.

  And that’s where a new product called Tunnel enters the scene .

  We’ve known that the NSA spies on us ever since Edward Snowden blew the whistle on them.

  But have you ever wondered if it’s possible for somebody to spy back on them?

  The NSA has a special way of protecting itself against such a possibility.  And you’ve probably never heard of it.

  To hide its own privacy, the NSA installs copper  – yes, you read that correctly: copper – around the equipment in its buildings.

  It turns out that copper has a unique conductive property that allows it to block surveillance, letting those who use it hide their activities from would-be spies.

  The main NSA headquarters is described as ”a building covered with one-way dark glass, which is lined with copper shielding in order to prevent espionage by trapping in signals and sounds.”

  The question becomes: if they can protect their own privacy with copper, why can’t we use this same technique to protect our privacy from them?

  Well now we finally can.

  Tunnel is a portable Faraday enclosure that uses a 100% authentic copper shielding system to surround your phone.  When your phone is inside, it forms a topologically near-complete surface to prevent non-ionizing radiation from penetrating its boundaries, letting you avoid surveillance.

  Thankfully, it’s not going to cost thousands of dollars, which has come as great news for protesters and other privacy advocates. “

 

 

   Be sure to read the rest at Filming Cops and while you are there grab their coupon code that will give the first 100 purchasers 35% off of the already discounted holiday price . Order yours today , we did and got it for a mere $43 with shipping thanks to the Filming Cops coupon . 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Daily Police Misconduct 12.8.14

Cop Car Crashes

 

 

 

 

” December 7, 2014 @ 8:15 PM by Tim Lynch

 

Tweet

 

From WJLA:

  They’re sworn to serve and protect. But police officers are not immune to causing harm, especially behind the wheel. An ABC7 I-Team investigation discovered police officers in the D.C. area have been found at fault in hundreds of accidents, causing deaths, injuries and thousands of dollars in damages….

  Some of the accidents also resulted in injuries, not just to officers, but also members of the public. In Montgomery County, which supplied the most detailed and comprehensive records, eight civilians have been injured since 2010 in police-involved accidents in which the officer was classified as responsible. Those incidents include a 2013 accident in which a person was hurt after being struck by an officer who didn’t see them walking through a parking garage.

  The video that details the last seconds of Ashley McIntosh’s life has logged more than 240,000 views on YouTube. But for the Fairfax County woman’s mother, Cindy Colasanto, seeing it just once was enough.

“I can’t even tell you how I felt, how devastating it was to see,” Colasanto said.

  Colasanto fought in Richmond to change laws requiring police lights and sirens after being forced to watch her daughter’s life end on a dash camera. McIntosh was killed by a police cruiser that slammed into her car. The officer had run a red light at a high rate of speed without using a siren.

Good reporting.”

 

 

This work by Cato Institute is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Methodology Behind WSJ’s Exposure Of Underreported Police Killings Explained

Is The FBI Underreporting Killings By Police?

 

 

 

Published on Dec 6, 2014

” As the nation focused on Staten Island, Ferguson, and Cleveland in the last few weeks and the relationship between citizens and law enforcement, a recent Wall Street Journal investigation revealed that federal accounting for killings by police may be grossly miscalculated. Wall Street Journal reporter Rob Barry joins Hari Sreenivasan for more on that investigation. “

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Daily Police Misconduct 12.7.14

NYT On Police Misconduct: Millions Of Americans Subjected To Intimidation

 

 

 

” December 6, 2014 @ 6:06 PM by Tim Lynch

 

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New York Times editorial:

  The Justice Department report describes the Cleveland Police Department as something far closer to an occupying military force than a legitimate law enforcement agency. The officers, for example, seem to take a casual view of the use of deadly force, shooting at people who pose no threat of harm to the police or others. In one case in 2013, for example, they actually fired at a victim who had been held captive in a house — as he escaped, clad only in boxer shorts.

  The report cataloged numerous incidents of wanton violence, with officers beating, pepper-spraying and Tasering people who were unarmed or had already been restrained. Officers escalated encounters with citizens instead of defusing them, making force all but inevitable.

  The record in Cleveland is extreme. But aspects of illegal police conduct can be found in cities all over the country, subjecting millions to intimidation and fear that they could be killed for innocent actions.

Subjecting millions to intimidation.  Stop what you’re doing and think about that.”

 

 

***  
This work by Cato Institute is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Could Eric Garner’s Death Be The Tipping Point Against Police Killings ?

Eric Garner Could Spark American Spring

 

 

 

 

 

 

” The violent death of Mohamed Bouazizi in Tunisia set off the Arab Spring. Could the killing of Eric Garner lead to a springtime of police reform – and regulatory reform — in the United States?

  Bouazizi was a street vendor, selling fruits and vegetables from a cart. He aspired to buy a pickup truck to expand his business. But, as property rights reformer Hernando de Soto wrote in the Wall Street Journal, “to get a loan to buy the truck, he needed collateral — and since the assets he held weren’t legally recorded or had murky titles, he didn’t qualify.”

  Meanwhile, de Soto notes, “government inspectors made Bouazizi’s life miserable, shaking him down for bribes when he couldn’t produce licenses that were (by design) virtually unobtainable. He tired of the abuse. The day he killed himself, inspectors had come to seize his merchandise and his electronic scale for weighing goods. A tussle began. One municipal inspector, a woman, slapped Bouazizi across the face. That humiliation, along with the confiscation of just $225 worth of his wares, is said to have led the young man to take his own life.”

  Bouazizi was a poor man trying to engage in commerce to make a better life. His brother Salem told de Soto the meaning of Bouazizi’s death: “He believed the poor had the right to buy and sell.”

  It was a story that resonated across the Arab world – a government that stifled freedom and enterprise, unaccountable bureaucracy, arbitrary enforcement, official contempt for citizens, a man who just couldn’t take it any more.

  Eric Garner’s story is surprisingly similar. He had been arrested more than 30 times, for such crimes as marijuana possession and driving without a license, and most often for selling untaxed cigarettes on the street.

  Why sell untaxed cigarettes? Because New York has the country’s highest cigarette taxes, $4.35 a pack for New York State and another $1.50 for the city. A pack of cigarettes can cost $14 in New York City, two and a half times as much as in Virginia . So a lively black market has sprung up. Buy cigarettes at retail in Virginia or North Carolina, sell them at a big markup in New York, and you can still undercut the price of legal, taxed cigarettes.

  Patrick Fleenor reported in a 2003 study for the Cato Institute that New York’s cigarette taxes had created a thriving black market, with rising levels of street crime, turf wars and increasing organized crime. He found that from 1990 to 2002, as the city and state repeatedly raised taxes, New York’s sales of taxed cigarettes relative to the national average plummeted. But reported smoking rates fell only slightly, in line with national trends. Obviously a lot of New York smokers were getting their fix from the black market.

  A 2013 study by the Mackinac Center found, not surprisingly, that New York had the highest rate of cigarette smuggling, totaling 61% of the state’s cigarette sales. “

 

Read it all at USA Today

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Another Unarmed Man Gunned Down By Police , This Time In Phoenix

Rumain Brisbon: Unarmed Black Man Killed By White Police Officer In Phoenix

 

 

 

” Rumain Brisbon, an unarmed black man, was shot and killed by a white police officer in Phoenix, Arizona, Tuesday night.

  In a string of cases involving unarmed black men dying at the hands of officers the last several months, another incident hits news.

  According to a report published by USA Today, an officer in Phoenix says he felt threatened by 34-year-old Rumain Brisbon, so he used lethal force. The encounter led to Brisbon getting shot twice and dying from his gunshot wounds at a north Phoenix apartment complex.

  A “detailed account” of what resulted in Brisbon’s death was released by the police department. The police department’s account is being argued by some witnesses and community activists, nonetheless. Those people are saying the officer’s force was “excessive” and that Brisbon’s death was “unwarranted.” “

Read more

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Jon Stewart And Judge Napolitano Discuss America’s Loss Of Civil Liberties

Judge Andrew Napolitano To Jon Stewart: Fear Makes People ‘Surrender Their Liberties For Safety’

 

 

 

Published on Dec 2, 2014

” By all rights, Jon Stewart’s Monday interview with Fox News senior judicial analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano should have been awkward, given the smackdown of Fox News that Stewart had delivered earlier in last night’s Daily Show. But the topic was civil liberties, something Napolitano started out noting that he and Stewart basically agree on. The audience, too, judging from their reaction. “We need to know that our rights come from our humanity, not the government,” Napolitano said, earning a hearty round of applause from the audience. Stewart probed: “Is the problem really the government, or does it lie in us, and our desire for safety, and for law.”

HT/Against Crony Capitalism

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Anonymous Threatens Cleveland PD On Tamir Rice Killing

Anonymous Issues Lists Of Demands To The Cleveland Police Department

” The following Anonymous communiqué and video were sent to Counter Current News by the hacktivists who outed Cleveland Police Officer Timothy Loehmann. Loehmann was the responding officer who shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice at a Cleveland area park last month.

  Along with the video, and the police dispatch information it contains, the Anonymous hacktivists issued a list of demands to the Cleveland Police Department… “

We Are Anonymous

We Are Legion

We Do Not Forgive

We Do Not Forget

Expect Us

For those readers that haven’t seen the surveillance video of the 12-year old being gunned down , here it is again :

Read the communique at CounterCurrent News

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Daily Police Misconduct 12.3.14

National Police Misconduct NewsFeed Daily Recap 11-27-14 to 12-01-14

 

 

 

 

 

” Here are the 10 reports of police misconduct tracked for Thursday, November 27 to Monday, December 1, 2014:

• Update: Houston, Texas (First reported 08-22-14): A police officer charged with carrying a kilogram of cocaine in was indicted on first-degree felony possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. ly/Fbhpd
• Prince George’s County, Maryland: A police officer has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident. ly/Fb8oK
• Imperial County, California: A police officer was arrested while in full uniform following an FBI-led investigation of bribery allegations. ly/FaO8p
• Palo Alto, California: A detective has been disciplined for forwarding an explicit photo of a suspect from a cellphone while the woman was under arrest, according to an audit report. ly/FaKYV
• Gainesville, Florida: A police officer has been fired after an internal affairs investigation found he had sex with a 19-year-old woman he arrested for shoplifting. ly/FaEx9
• Maricopa County, Arizona: Some deputies have been accused of falsifying search warrant requests. A judge said there were “seemingly pervasive misstatements of basic facts” made by investigators when they obtained search warrants. ly/FauYG
• Paris, Maine: The police chief faces a charge of drunk driving after getting pulled over. ly/Fa6mb
• Fruitport Township, Michigan: An officer is being charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence and having a minor in the car at the time. ly/Fa5lO
• Des Moines, Iowa: A police officer has been charged with driving while intoxicated. He was off duty when he was pulled over for speeding.ly/F9XUV
• Dallas, Texas: A police officer has been placed on administrative leave after being arrested. He is facing charges of driving while intoxicated and evading on foot. ly/F9y28 “

 

Cato Institute

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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“Hands Up” Congressional Hypocrites All Voted For Police State

Four Members Of Congress Put Their Hands Up In Solidarity With Ferguson Protesters, None Voted To Limit Police Militarization

 

 

 

 

 

” Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, in August. Protests over the shooting yielded a militarized response from police. Renewed protests continued in October and again after a grand jury declined to indict Darren Wilson, the officer who shot Brown. The Brown shooting may have been a flash point for civil rights protesters. It’s also provided an opportunity for politicians to attach themselves to the highly publicized incident and score political points for themselves.

  Yesterday, for example, four members of Congress raised their hands on the House Floor to “show solidarity with the protesters” in Ferguson. Those four are Reps. Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.), and Al Green (D-Tex.). All four voted AGAINST an amendment in June that would’ve limited the transfer of military equipment from the Department of Defense to local police agencies.”

 

 

Reason

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Daily Police Misconduct 12.2.14

National Police Misconduct NewsFeed Daily Recap 11-26-14

 

 

 

 

 

 

” Here are the 15 reports of police misconduct tracked for Wednesday, November 26, 2014:

• Update: Salisbury, Maryland (First reported 09-12-14): A judge found a police officer made an unlawful arrest of a teen. The boy was acquitted on all charges as a result. http://ow.ly/EVDXi
• Cuyahoga County, Ohio: A prosecutor said three law enforcement officials face felony charges for misusing their access to confidential criminal records. http://ow.ly/EVLoH
• Douglas County, Colorado: Sheriff’s deputies arrested a U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency agent on charges of domestic violence and criminal mischief. http://ow.ly/EVRpY
• Denver, Colorado: Video shows an officer punching an unarmed suspect in the face six times then tripping the man’s seven-and-a-half-months pregnant girlfriend. http://ow.ly/EVOJq
• Update: Troy, New York (First reported 07-30-14): A city police officer who worked with a state police drug task force was indicted on charges of tampering with evidence after allegedly warning a friend about a drug raid.http://ow.ly/EVUOr
• Dallas, Texas: An officer was arrested after police were called to meet with an injured woman. Detectives say a fight between escalated into violence that left the woman hospitalized with serious injuries. http://ow.ly/EVWmf
• Fort Hood, Texas: A woman who was raped by a military police officer is suing the U.S. government. http://ow.ly/EVWLc
• Update: Polk County, Florida (First reported 01-23-14): A now-former sheriff’s deputy pled guilty to two counts of official misconduct, which stems from arresting women and offering them deals if they exposed themselves. http://ow.ly/EW42e
• Grapevine, Texas: A police officer was placed on administrative leave after admitting to taking and ingesting K-9 training narcotics. http://ow.ly/EW4Zl
• Update: Hillsdale, Missouri (First reported 08-14-14): A now-former lieutenant will spend the next 46 months in jail followed by three years of probation. He pled guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to distribute heroin and attempt to distribute heroin. http://ow.ly/EW5M3
• Update: Maywood, Illinois (First reported 12-18-12): A now-former police officer was found guilty of misconduct but acquitted on charges that he sexually assaulted a woman he picked up in his squad car while on duty.http://ow.ly/EWaYL
• Isabella County, Michigan: A deputy quit before facing firing for repeatedly questioning a 24-year-old woman about her sexual experiences and sending her graphically sexual text messages, according to departmental investigative reports. http://ow.ly/EW80n
• Plaistow, New Hampshire: A now-former police detective has been sentenced to spend nine days behind bars. He pled guilty to criminal threatening and admitted he held a knife to a man’s throat, saying “shut up or I will slice you.” ly/EVDet
• Update: Atlanta, Georgia (First reported 09-02-14): The shooting death of a woman whose body, found burning, has resulted in an indictment of a now-former police officer. ly/ESOot
• Washoe County, Nevada: A sheriff’s deputy has been arrested after police say he was firing a gun while drunk and threatened to shoot at a sheriff’s helicopter. ly/ESOdi “

 

Cato Institute

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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FBI Report Reveals The Facts About The Dangers Faced By The Beat Cop In America Today

FBI Report Accidentally Exposes The Severity Of The Police State

 

 

 

” (TheAntiMedia) A recently published FBI report accidentally proves that while the police claim cops face growing threats from rowdy populations–like in Ferguson–the opposite is true. The report presents law enforcement deaths in 2013.

  The report found that across the entire country, only 76 LEOs were killed in “line-of-duty” incidents. 27 died as a result of “felonious” acts and 49 officers died in accidents–namely, automobile (ironically, of the 23 killed in car accidents, 14 were not wearing seat belts–a violation for which cops routinely ticket drivers). More officers die from accidents than actual murders on the job. The report also outright admits that intentional murders of cops were down from 2004 and 2009.”

 

 

 

” Further, 49,851 officers were assaulted–a statistic that seemingly proves police are at risk. 29.2%, or 14,556, were actually injured (an admittedly high number). Still, a suspect fact is that 79.8% of the time, “assailants used personal weapons (hands, fists, feet, etc.).” This means that in a vast majority of cases, there was no physical evidence that assault occurred (outside of potential bruises and cuts,but this information is not public). Punches and kicks can be damaging, but nowhere near firearms and knives, which constituted a very small percentage of “assaults.” The report also does not specify what constitutes an “injury,” making designations of injury potentially arbitrary and subjective.

  This means that the common police tactic of misrepresenting scuffles and charging people with assault could be at work (such as when a cop squeezed the breast of an Occupy protester so hard he left a bruise and in the chaos, she accidentally elbowed a cop. She went to jail for “assaulting” an officer). Of course, it’s a possibility that all 49,851 officers were simply “doing their jobs,” but at the very least it is important to be skeptical.”

 

 

 

 

” But besides direct contradictions to the logic behind institutional myths of heroic cops and dangerous bad guys, what are the implications of this FBI report?

  First, that police are schizophrenic in their belief that they are in danger (this fear is proven in the recent Ferguson protests and presence of the National Guard). The overzealous militarization of local cops is enough to prove that they might as well be hiding under blankies from the American populace in spite of the fact that violent crime has been dropping for decades.”

 

 

 

 

” However, considering how well cops are armed and how efficiently the justice system protects them from prosecution for their crimes, they prove to be paranoid. 27 police officers in a country with over 300 million people died last year. Law enforcement deaths-by-murder are included in the 49,851 “assaults” against officers, which means that .05 (half a percent) died as a result of alleged attacks. Crime against cops has dropped to a 50 year low. It’s more dangerous to drive a car than be a cop (this is bolstered by the fact that the number of cops who died in car accidents almost equals the total number of cops murdered–23 to 27).

  Second, militarization is working for the police. It is not working for the rest of us. Though there is little reliable, official data about the number of people police kill every year, tenuous reports claim it is around 400. This is already almost 15 times more than police who are intentionally killed. However, the 400 figure is a result of 17,000 local police agencies being allowed to self-report. The numbers could be far higher.

  As Tech Dirt said of a 2008 FBI report that found cops had killed 391 people in 2007:

“That count only includes homicides that occurred during the commission of a felony. This total doesn’t include justifiable homicides committed by police officers against people not committing felonies and also doesn’t include homicides found to be not justifiable. But still, this severe undercount far outpaces the number of cops killed by civilians.”

  The number of “justifiable” homicides was on the rise in 2008 (to be fair, it was rising among private citizens as well) in spite of the inconvenient fact that overall crime has been declining.”

 

 

 

” Unfortunately, the most important implication of the FBI report is the simple fact that the report exists. When the FBI takes the time to construct a meticulous report (you can read more details here) of all the ways that a tiny percentage of cops were killed–but cannot be bothered to officially count civilian deaths at the hands of cops, the reality is obvious:

  The government places a higher priority on their own than on the lives of those they claim to “serve,” “protect,” and “work for.” It cares more about exonerating the police of their crimes than providing justice to those they abuse. There is no justice when the criminal is the cop. “

 

Much thanks to The Anti-Media for this enlightening piece

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Daily Police Misconduct 11.27.14

National Police Misconduct NewsFeed Daily Recap 11-25-14

 

 

 

 

 

 

” Here are the 9 reports of police misconduct tracked for Tuesday, November 25, 2014:

• Dallas, Texas: A police officer has been fired for using excessive force in a videotaped incident in which a suspected panhandler was pinned to the ground. http://ow.ly/ESsCi
• Update: Jarrel, Texas (First reported 02-07-14): A police chief will spend four and a half years in federal prison for using the witness protection program to collect bribes from illegal aliens wanting to avoid deportation. ly/ESjEz
• Knox County, Tennessee: Two former law enforcement officers have pled guilty to attempting to commit extortion after being indicted by a federal grand jury. ly/ESqZz
• Update: Superior, Wisconsin (Previously reported 10-21-14): An officer was given a 10-hour unpaid suspension for his actions during the arrest of a woman. Video shot by a dashboard camera in the squad car shows him shoving her onto the hood of the vehicle and striking her in the face with a closed fist as she reached toward his face and tried to pull away. The suspension was given because the officer used vulgarities when dealing with the woman, and his manner didn’t defuse the situation, according to the police department. ly/ERZBT
• Update: Savannah-Chatham, Georgia (Previously reported 08-12-14): The now-former police chief was found guilty on one count of commercial gambling, one count of conspiracy, two counts making false statements, and two counts of extortion. He was found not guilty of three additional extortion charges. ly/ERKNQ
• Eddy County, New Mexico: A sheriff’s deputy has resigned after being placed on administrative leave over alleged off-duty conduct. He submitted his resignation after he was arrested and accused of allegedly driving drunk. ly/ERGLG
• San Marcos, Texas: A woman who says she suffered broken teeth and a concussion at the hands of a police officer who arrested her has sued him, the city’s police department and its former chief. ly/ERGbN
• Nodaway, Missouri: A couple has filed a civil lawsuit in federal District Court claiming that the county sheriff and a deputy improperly entered their home while investigating allegations of child endangerment. ly/ERDZd
• Update: Baltimore, Maryland (Previously reported 01-24-14): A now-former police officer was sentenced in federal court to 21 months in prison for his role in operating a prostitution business. He was also sentenced to two years of supervised release for his crime. According to the indictment he had more than 300 customers as part of his business. http://ow.ly/ES1Dv “

 

 

Cato Institute

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Daily Police Misconduct 11.26.14

National Police Misconduct NewsFeed Daily Recap 11-22-14 to 11-24-14

 

 

 

 

 

” Here are the 11 reports of police misconduct tracked for Saturday, November 22 to Monday, November 24, 2014:

• Fremont, Ohio: A now-former state trooper pled no contest to a misdemeanor charge of disseminating matter harmful to a juvenile. He showed a pornographic video to a 12-year-old boy. ow.ly/EP5qy
• Kootenai County, Idaho: A now-former state trooper from pled guilty to charges including petty theft and malicious injury to property in exchange for other criminal charges against him being dropped. He could receive up to five years in prison when sentenced. ow.ly/EP345
• Newport, Rhode Island: A police officer has been arrested and accused of making a fake 911 call. ly/EOKSW
• Cleveland, Ohio: A 12-year-old boy shot by police after grabbing what turned out to be a replica gun died from his wounds a day after officers responded to a 911 call about someone waving a “probably fake” gun at a playground. ly/ENhGO
• Kingsville, Texas: A police officer is behind bars after an investigation into claims of domestic violence. He was arrested and charged with obstruction or retaliation, assault bodily injury of a family or household member and tampering with a witness. http://ow.ly/ETg1u
• Update: Sturgis, Michigan (First reported 10-31-14): A sheriff’s deputy told an officer that he had been out celebrating his birthday and admitted to drinking and driving before crashing his pickup truck. “He stated he had no memory of where he had been drinking, what he had been drinking or how much he had been drinking,” said the officer. ly/EOJsr
• New York, New York: Footage shows a violent encounter between a police officer and an alleged fare beater at subway station. It shows an officer hitting a man in the head with a nightstick; that move is against department policy. An internal investigation is underway. ly/EOvw3
• Campbell County, Wyoming: The sheriff is resigning in the midst of a state investigation into an allegation that he tried to suppress his son’s arrest on a drunken driving charge. ly/EOdzn
• Update: Millvale, Pennsylvania (Previously reported 06-24-14): A federal court jury convicted a police officer of violating a man’s civil rights by using a stun gun on him three times while he was handcuffed. ly/EO32I
• Update: San Diego, California (First reported 06-06-14): A married couple who both served in the police department for years pled guilty to committing burglaries while on duty in order to steal prescription medications and sell them. ly/ENHzz
• Savannah-Chatham, Georgia: A jury found a now-former police detective guilty of seven counts of making false statements. ly/ENCoX “

 

Cato Institute

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Daily Police Misconduct 11.25.14

National Police Misconduct NewsFeed Daily Recap 11-21-14

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

” Here are the 8 reports of police misconduct tracked for Friday, November 21, 2014:

• Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina: The attorney general’s office said a now-former police officer has been indicted on charges of embezzlement by a grand jury. ly/EH2dS
• Dupont, Pennsylvania: A police officer is under investigation by the county District Attorney’s office for a “systemic abuse of authority.” A range of examples was cited; the DA believes the officer did not act properly, from issuing unlawful traffic citations to failing to investigate a stabbing, a DUI and other cases. ly/EGQ0P
• Oakwood, Ohio: A now-former police officer accused of stealing nearly $100,000 from the police lodge where he was treasurer has been charged with grand theft. ly/EGD4Z
• Buffalo, New York: A police officer has been charged with taking $130 from a woman’s pocketbook while on duty. ly/EGhDL
• New York, New York: Two police officers were entering pitch-black stairwell of a building one of them with his sidearm drawn. The investigation’s leading theory described an instance of clumsiness on the part of the officer; officials say he accidentally shot his gun, killing an unarmed man in the stairwell. The officer was relieved of his gun and his badge. ly/EGdIb
• Garden City, Idaho: A Garden City police officer has resigned from his department after a second DUI arrest. ly/EG3cW
• Oconee County, South Carolina: A deputy was fired after he was charged with the assault and battery of a young child. “No one is above the law,” said the sheriff in a written statement. “Officers will not be treated any differently than any other resident of Oconee County and if allegations surface and are proven to be true, appropriate action will be taken.”ly/EFEPJ
• Memphis, Tennessee: A Memphis police officer charged with second-degree murder for fatally shooting her wife has pled not guilty. She was also charged with attempted murder because she tried to shoot the woman’s 12-year-old son. ly/EFuJE “

 

 

 

Cato Institute

Daily Police Misconduct 11.19.14

National Police Misconduct NewsFeed Daily Recap 11-15-14 to 11-17-14

 

 

 

” Here are the 7 reports tracked for Saturday, November 15 to Sunday, November 17, 2014:

• Update: Campbell, Wisconsin (Previously reported 07-25-14): The police chief pled no contest to a misdemeanor charge that accused him of harassing a local tea party activist by using his email to sign him up for multiple online dating, insurance, and pornography websites. ly/Eq3lV
• Holyoke, Massachusetts: A police officer who drew his gun following a heated argument with another officer at a restaurant was fired following an investigation. ly/EpKPi
• Beardstown, Illinois: Police arrested one of their own officers on charges of theft, criminal damage to government-supported property, and official misconduct. ly/Eowfs
• Hoffman Estates, Illinois: An officer allegedly made a phone call to people in a hotel room warning them that officers were on their way. Police were responding to a complaint of loud noise and a marijuana smell. ly/Eoybf
• Phoenix, Arizona: A detective is facing charges of domestic violence and disorderly conduct after he allegedly got into a fight with his girlfriend.ly/EovHa
• Rocky Ford, Colorado: A police officer has been charged with second-degree murder in the shooting of a 27-year-old man. He is being held on a $1 million bond. ly/Eovw9
• Update: Placer County, California (Previously reported 07-14-14): A now-former sheriff’s deputy pled no contest to a single felony charge of having unlawful sex with a minor. ly/EqayE “

 

 

Cato Institute

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Daily Police Misconduct 11.15.14

National Police Misconduct NewsFeed Daily Recap 11-13-14

 

 

 

 

 

 

” Here are the 5 reports of police misconduct tracked for Thursday, November 13, 2014:

• Update: Shreveport, Louisiana (First reported 11-23-14): A police Sergeant must pay a $500 fine and then his criminal record will be expunged. He pled guilty to contributing to the delinquency of a minor by taking his 15-year-old son to a bar. ly/EeaLl
• Raton, New Mexico: A local police captain has been on administrative leave for nearly four months as the an internal investigation is conducted and a district attorney contemplates whether criminal charges should be filed in relation to accusations the officer sexually assaulted a woman. ly/EdVG8
• Franklin County, Illinois: A now-former police officer accused of attacking a handcuffed suspect will serve jail time. He was charged with aggravated battery, involuntary manslaughter, and official misconduct. The officer sentenced to 18 months, but he’ll only report to the county jail on weekends. During the week he’ll be under house arrest. ly/EdytA
• New York, New York: Nine officer fired for disobeying their bosses, and flashing their badges to get out of trouble Three supervisors, including a lieutenant, also face disciplinary action following the drunken celebration.ly/EdvXt
• Norfolk, Virginia: A now-former detective, currently serving a 12-1/2-year sentence for taking bribes from criminals, is now facing allegations that he coerced – even beat – false confessions out of murder suspects. ly/Edb1v “

 

Cato Institute

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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This Is How You Protect Your Rights & Keep The Police Out Of Your Home – Video

If Police Come To Your Door Without a Warrant, Shut Them Down Like This Guy

 

 

 

” If police come to your door and you don’t need their help, you can simply decline to answer. They cannot come into your home without a search warrant.

  Even if the police have probable cause, they cannot come in your home without a search warrant.

  You might even be a suspect in a criminal investigation. In such a case you should remain silent — except to say “Officer, I can’t let you inside without a search warrant.” Following such an encounter, you should immediately contact a lawyer before speaking to police again.

  The fact is that police can legally lie to try and gain access into your home and knowing how to deal with police at your door can go a long way.”

Free Thought Project 

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You Voted For Big Government … And Now You’ve Got It

Right Wing News

 

 

 

 

 

How do you like it now ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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An Interactive Map Of The Distribution Of War Fighting Gear To Local Police Departments

Mapping The Spread Of The Military’s Surplus Gear

 

 

Click on the pic to go to interactive page and view your county’s arsenal

 

 

 

” State and local police departments obtain some of their military-style equipment through a free Defense Department program created in the early 1990s. While the portion of their gear that comes from the program is relatively small (most of it is paid for by the departments or through federal grants), detailed data from the Pentagon illustrates how ubiquitous such equipment has become. Highlighted counties have received guns, grenade launchers, vehicles, night vision or body armor through the program since 2006.”

 

NY Times

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Ferguson Highlights Fed Program Of Militarization Of Police … Finally Gets Congress’ Attention

US Rethinks Giving Excess Military Gear To Police

 

 

 

 

 

 

” After a decade of sending military equipment to civilian police departments across the country, federal officials are reconsidering the idea in light of the violence in Ferguson, Missouri.

  The public has absorbed images of heavily armed police, snipers trained on protesters and tear gas plumes. Against that backdrop, Attorney General Eric Holder said that when police and citizens need to restore calm, “I am deeply concerned that the deployment of military equipment and vehicles sends a conflicting message.”

  Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said police responses like that in Ferguson have “become the problem instead of the solution.” Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., said he will introduce legislation to curb the trend of police militarization.

  Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said his committee will review the program to determine if the Defense Department’s surplus equipment is being used as intended.

  One night after the violence that accompanied the presence of military-style equipment in Ferguson, tensions eased when a police captain, unprotected and shaking hands, walked through a crowd in a gesture of reconciliation. The contrast added to the perception that the tanks and tear gas had done more harm than good.

  As the country concludes its longest wartime period, the military has turned over thousands of surplus weapons and armored trucks to local police who often trained alongside the military.

  A report by the American Civil Liberties Union in June said police agencies had become “excessively militarized,” with officers using training and equipment designed for the battlefield on city streets. The report found the amount of goods transferred through the military surplus program rose in value from $1 million in 1990 to nearly $450 million in 2013.”

 

 

Read more at AP

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Saturday Steyn

Cigars, But Not Close

 

 

 

 

 

” The “narrative” of Ferguson, Missouri changed somewhat today. But, amid the confusion, the blundering stupidity of the city’s police department remains consistent.

  This morning the Police Chief, Thomas Jackson, released security-camera shots of the late Michael Brown apparently stealing a five-dollar box of cigarillos from a convenience store. So the 18-year old shot dead by Chief Jackson’s officer was no longer a “gentle giant” en route to college but just another crappy third-rate violent teen n’er-do-well.

  This afternoon, the chief gave a second press conference. Why would he do that? Well, he’d somehow managed to create the impression in his first press conference that the officer who killed Mr Brown was responding to the robbery. In fact, that was not the case. The Ferguson policeman was unaware that Brown was a robbery suspect at the time he encountered him and shot him dead. Which is presumably why Chief Jackson was leaned on to give his second press conference and tidy up the mess from the first. So we have an officer who sees two young men, unwanted for any crime, walking down the middle of the street and stops his cruiser. Three minutes later one of them is dead.

  On the other hand, Jackson further confused matters by suggesting that he noticed Brown had cigars in his hand and might be the suspect.

  It’s important, when something goes wrong, to be clear about what it is that’s at issue. Talking up Michael Brown as this season’s Trayvonesque angel of peace and scholarship was foolish, and looting stores in his saintly memory even worse. But this week’s pictures from Ferguson, such as the one above, ought to be profoundly disquieting to those Americans of a non-looting bent. “

 

Mr Steyn addresses the mess that is Ferguson , Missouri . Read it all .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Rand Paul Decries The Police State

Rand Paul: We Must Demilitarize The Police

 

 

              Police in riot gear watch protesters in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 13, 2014.Jeff Roberson—AP

” Anyone who thinks race does not skew the application of criminal justice in this country is just not paying close enough attention, Sen. Rand Paul writes for TIME, amid violence in Ferguson, Mo. over the police shooting death of Michael Brown

  The shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown is an awful tragedy that continues to send shockwaves through the community of Ferguson, Missouri and across the nation.

  If I had been told to get out of the street as a teenager, there would have been a distinct possibility that I might have smarted off. But, I wouldn’t have expected to be shot.

  The outrage in Ferguson is understandable—though there is never an excuse for rioting or looting. There is a legitimate role for the police to keep the peace, but there should be a difference between a police response and a military response.

  The images and scenes we continue to see in Ferguson resemble war more than traditional police action.

 

  Glenn Reynolds, in Popular Mechanics, recognized the increasing militarization of the police five years ago. In 2009 he wrote:

  Soldiers and police are supposed to be different. … Police look inward. They’re supposed to protect their fellow citizens from criminals, and to maintain order with a minimum of force.

  It’s the difference between Audie Murphy and Andy Griffith. But nowadays, police are looking, and acting, more like soldiers than cops, with bad consequences. And those who suffer the consequences are usually innocent civilians.

 

  The Cato Institute’s Walter Olson observed this week how the rising militarization of law enforcement is currently playing out in Ferguson:

  Why armored vehicles in a Midwestern inner suburb? Why would cops wear camouflage gear against a terrain patterned by convenience stores and beauty parlors? Why are the authorities in Ferguson, Mo. so given to quasi-martial crowd control methods (such as bans on walking on the street) and, per the reporting of Riverfront Times, the firing of tear gas at people in their own yards? (“‘This my property!’ he shouted, prompting police to fire a tear gas canister directly at his face.”) Why would someone identifying himself as an 82nd Airborne Army veteran, observing the Ferguson police scene, comment that “We rolled lighter than that in an actual warzone”? “

 

Read it all

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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As Foreign Wars Wind Down PD’s Nationwide Arm For Domestic Ones … Thanks To The Feds

War Gear Flows To Police Departments

 

 

” As the nation’s wars abroad wind down, many of the military’s surplus tools of combat have ended up in the hands of state and local law enforcement. Totals below are the minimum number of pieces acquired since 2006 in a selection of categories.”

” Inside the municipal garage of this small lakefront city, parked next to the hefty orange snowplow, sits an even larger truck, this one painted in desert khaki. Weighing 30 tons and built to withstand land mines, the armored combat vehicle is one of hundreds showing up across the country, in police departments big and small.

  The 9-foot-tall armored truck was intended for an overseas battlefield. But as President Obama ushers in the end of what he called America’s “long season of war,” the former tools of combat — M-16 rifles, grenade launchers, silencers and more — are ending up in local police departments, often with little public notice.

  During the Obama administration, according to Pentagon data, police departments have received tens of thousands of machine guns; nearly 200,000 ammunition magazines; thousands of pieces of camouflage and night-vision equipment; and hundreds of silencers, armored cars and aircraft.

  The equipment has been added to the armories of police departments that already look and act like military units. Police SWAT teams are now deployed tens of thousands of times each year, increasingly for routine jobs. Masked, heavily armed police officers in Louisiana raided a nightclub in 2006 as part of a liquor inspection. In Florida in 2010, officers in SWAT gear and with guns drawn carried out raids on barbershops that mostly led only to charges of “barbering without a license.” “

 

 

 

     For all the police talk of the dangers they face and the armament of the criminal element , there is little proof of such assertions . As a matter of fact 2013 saw the fewest law enforcement deaths in over 125 years and that is not because of armored cars .

 

 

” The ubiquity of SWAT teams has changed not only the way officers look, but also the way departments view themselves. Recruiting videos feature clips of officers storming into homes with smoke grenades and firing  automatic weapons . In Springdale, Ark., a police recruiting video is dominated by SWAT clips, including officers throwing a flash grenade into a house and creeping through a field in camouflage.

  In South Carolina, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department’s website features its SWAT team, dressed in black with guns drawn, flanking an armored vehicle that looks like a tank and has a mounted .50-caliber gun. Capt. Chris Cowan, a department spokesman, said the vehicle “allows the department to stay in step with the criminals who are arming themselves more heavily every day.” He said police officers had taken it to schools and community events, where it was a conversation starter.”

 

 

 

Katherine Mangu-Ward cuts to the heart of the hypocrisy …

 

 

 

” The Times quotes a “more in sorrow than in anger” line from a local police chief:

“I don’t like it. I wish it were the way it was when I was a kid,” he said. But he said the possibility of violence, however remote, required taking precautions. “We’re not going to go out there as Officer Friendly with no body armor and just a handgun and say ‘Good enough.’ “

 

 

 

    In order to get a better understanding of the risks involved in policing take a look at the statistics provided below regarding work-related fatalities . Keep in mind that the statistics below are for the calendar year 2008 when 147 officers died in the line of duty while during the year 2013 only 100+/- died . 

 

 

 

” OCCUPATIONS MORE DANGEROUS THAN BEING A POLICE OFFICER:

  Number of deaths per 100,000 employed Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics-Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries – 2008

Fishermen: 112.0

Logging workers: 87.0

Aircraft pilots: 67.0

Iron and steelworkers: 45.0

Farmers and ranchers: 38.0

Garbage collectors: 36.8

Roofers: 34.4

Electrical power line installation/repair: 29.8

Truck drivers: 22.8

Oil and gas extraction: 21.9

Police officers and Deputies: 21.4*

Taxi drivers: 19.3

Drinking establishment employees: 17.0

Construction workers: 16.0

Grounds maintenance: 11.9

Welders: 10.5

Electricians: 8.3

Gas station attendant: 7.5

Firefighters: 6.9

Auto mechanics: 5.0

Newspaper publishers: 4.8

Carpenters: 4.7

Janitors: 3.1

Retail sales: 1.5

 

* A high percentage of police officers deaths involve traffic accidents and not wearing a “seat belt.”

 

 

 As a for instance to the above quoted police fatality rate bear in mind that in 2013 105 officers were killed in the line of duty and of those 105 only 30 were shot to death . The balance were killed in traffic accidents and other causes as categorized below by the  Officer Down Memorial Page . Put forth in such stark , simple terms it is obvious that the people have a lot more to fear of the police than the reverse .

 

2013 Line of Duty Deaths: 105

9/11 related illness: 1
Aircraft accident: 1
Automobile accident: 25
Boating accident: 1
Bomb: 1
Drowned: 2
Duty related illness: 1
Electrocuted: 1
Fall: 4
Fire: 1
Gunfire: 30
Gunfire (Accidental): 2
Heart attack: 10
Motorcycle accident: 4
Stabbed: 2
Struck by vehicle: 8
Training accident: 2
Vehicle pursuit: 4
Vehicular assault: 5

 

 

 

FBI

  In many cases of police brutality that the FBI investigates, only a small fraction ever receive indictments, and even fewer result in a conviction. In 1996, the FBI reviewed 10,129 civil rights cases, and only 0.2% were filed for prosecution. The prosecution rate for police abuse cases is less than 1% of those investigated. So even if a complaint makes it to the FBI, it is very unlikely to lead to a conviction. This is a classic scenario of ‘the wolf guarding the fox that’s guarding the hen house.’

  Is it dangerous to be a cop? FBI reports show that in 2000, 51 police officers were killed in the United States. Out of the hundreds of thousands of law enforcement personnel, this means less than 1/10 of 1% are at risk, thereby making law enforcement personnel one of the safest class of citizens in the United States. On the other hand, nearly one in two civilian women in the United States has either been raped, assaulted, or beaten during domestic violence during their lives. Court records show police officers are four (4) times more likely to commit acts of domestic violence, than any other group — however, they rarely are arrested because their friends respond to the scene of the crime.

  According to the Department of Labor, the on-the-job fatality rate for police is lower than that for gardeners, electricians, truck drivers, garbage collectors, construction workers, airline pilots, timber cutters, and commercial fisherman. In fact, fishermen have an occupational fatality rate that is fifteen times higher than that for cops, but rarely do we hear those who provide us with an endless supply of mahi-mahi described as heroes. (See Selling the Police: Reflections on Heroism and Hype in America,Tim Wise “

 

 

   The notion that the police officer’s exposure to danger and life-threatening situations has exploded along with the arming of the criminals and terrorists is to deny the facts .

 

 

 

 

Mangu-Ward continues:

 

 

” And then calls him out on his historical illiteracy:

   Congress created the military-transfer program in the early 1990s, when violent crime plagued America’s cities and the police felt outgunned by drug gangs. Today, crime has fallen to its lowest levels in a generation, the wars have wound down, and despite current fears, the number of domestic terrorist attacks has declined sharply from the 1960s and 1970s.”

 

 

 

 

   The threat of domestic terrorism is another Statist strawman used to justify the militarization of our “peace officers” , remember when the were called that , and again does not stand up to even the most simple scrutiny …

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Here is a link to the Global Terrorism Database where the reader can find the most complete data on both foreign and domestic terrorism with very user-friendly interactive charts and graphics such as the one below that shows beyond doubt that we are safer now than at anytime in the past 50 years from criminals and terrorists at least .

 

 

 

 

 

 

   On the other hand the body count of American citizens dead at the hands of law enforcement continues to grow exponentially …

 

” Almost all police involved shootings, while investigated by special units, prosecutor’s offices, or an outside police agency, were investigated by governmental law enforcement personnel. It is perhaps not surprising that more than 95 percent of all police involved shootings were ruled administratively and legally justified. A handful of cases led to wrongful death lawsuits. Even fewer will result in the criminal prosecution of officers. Critics of the system have called for the establishment of completely independent investigative agencies in cases of police involved shootings.

 

Where People Were Shot

 
     Most Deadly States

     California 183 total (102 fatal)
     Florida 96 (49)
     Illinois 64 (26)
     Texas 58 (26)
     New York 49 (23)
     Pennsylvania 49 (23)
     Ohio 45 (28)
     Arizona 45 (27)
     Maryland 41 (16)
     Washington 39 (29)

 
     Least Deadly States

     Delaware 0
     Vermont 0
     North Dakota 1
     Wyoming 2 (1)
     Alaska 2 (2)
     Montana 3 (2)
     South Dakota 3 (3)
     Hawaii 4 (3)
     Connecticut 6 (1)
     West Virginia 6 (5)
     New Hampshire 6 (5)
     Idaho 7 (2)
     Kansas 7 (5)

 

     Most Deadly Cities

     Chicago 46 total (10 fatal)
     Los Angeles 22 (14)
     Philadelphia 17 (7)
     Las Vegas 17 (15)
     New York City 16 (6)
     Phoenix 15 (10)
     Baltimore 15 (5)
     Columbus, OH 14 (8)
     Atlanta 12 (4)
     St. Louis 11 (3)
     Cleveland 10 (7)
     Miami 10 (6)
     Houston 10 (3)

 
     Least Deadly Cities

     Boston 1
     New Orleans 1 (1)
     Portland, ME 1
     Buffalo 2
     Detroit 2 (1)
     Seattle 2 (1)
     Denver 2 (2)
     Pittsburgh 3 (1)

 

     Cities with High Per Capita Shooting Rates

     Fresno, CA 9 total (4 fatal)
     Tucson, AZ 8 (6)
     Aurora, CO 7 (6)
     Oakland, CA 7 (6)
     San Jose, CA 7 (3)
     Albuquerque, NM 6 (5)
     Mesa, AZ 6 (2)
     Jacksonville, FL 5 (4)
     Syracuse, NY 5 (3)
     Orlando, FL 5 (2)
     N. Miami Beach, FL 5 (2)
     Little Rock, Ark. 5 (1)
     Yakima, WA 4 (1)
     Bakersfield, CA 4 (3)
     Long Beach, CA 4 (2)
     Garden Grove, CA 4 (3)
     Redding, CA 4 (2)”

 

 

 

   It is readily apparent that the most serious risk to the life and limbs of the average citizen in America today comes not from domestic terrorists or even from the average criminal , but from those very “public servants” charged with our protection .

 

Read the entire article at the NY Times

 

 

 

For those interested in further reading on the SWATification of America try these links:

 

 

Local Police And Their SWAT Mentality Are Robbing Us Of Our Liberty

2013 Saw Fewest Law Enforcement Officer Deaths Since 1887 … But Still They Militarize

Some Little Explored Facts About Police Shootings From James Bovard

It Was Only A Matter Of Time … A Video Montage Of Police Abuse

Militarization Of Police: Peace Officers To Storm Troopers – Big Brother Watch

Unconstrained Government Power – As Evidenced By Police Militarization

John Stossel – Police Militarization

More Americans Killed By Police Than Iraqi Insurgents

Militarized Police Is A Concern To ACLU … About Time

John Fund On “The United States Of SWAT?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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